Technology

Two of the biggest names in title insurance are joining together to bring blockchain to the title insurance industry. First American Financial announced Wednesday that it is launching a shared blockchain system to be used in the title insurance process. And the first company to sign on to use First American’s blockchain system is Old Republic Title Insurance Group, the nation’s third largest title insurance underwriter.

Equifax has launched a lead generation tool for mortgage lenders that it says will help users predict the likelihood that a lead will turn into a sale within the next two to six months. The product, called the Mortgage Lead Generation Models, uses data on a prospect’s credit, wealth and assets, property and demographics to help lenders better target their marketing.

Although technology continues to transform the mortgage industry, evidence suggest consumers still long for the human touch. TD Bank recently announced a partnership with Roostify to not only streamline loan origination, but keep the human element in the digital origination process.

LinkedIn, Cisco, and Pure Storage are joining together to invest a total of $20 million into the TECH Fund, a program started by Housing Trust Silicon Valley that aims to get more high-tech organizations, large employers and philanthropists involved with creating affordable housing in the Bay Area.

Looks like Amazon is not the only tech giant gobbling up real estate to facilitate its expansion. Google's parent company just inked a $1 billion deal for a 51.8 acre business park near its Mountainview, California, headquarters, making another move in its ongoing property grab in both California and New York.

Embrace Home Loans has hired Jodi Viniello as chief innovation and transformation officer to help expand the lender’s digital operations. "Companies that leverage agile methods are able to react successfully to the emergence of new competitors, game-changing technologies and sudden shifts in market conditions," said Embrace President and CEO Dennis Hardiman.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has said he plans to take the short-term rental company public before 2020, and now, the company has a new chief financial officer to help guide it through its initial public offering. Airbnb announced Monday that it is hiring Dave Stephenson away from Amazon to be its new CFO.

Time and costs matter a great deal in HELOC lending, and competition is high to secure these borrowers. A vendor-neutral valuation platform can give lenders an efficient and compliant solution to help them capitalize on the coming wave of home equity borrowers.

African American and Latino borrowers continue to pay higher interest rates on their mortgages – even when the loan is completed online. A recent study by the University of California Berkeley revealed minority homebuyers pay up to half a billion dollars more in interest every year than white borrowers with comparable credit scores. The study asserts that in the fintech era, the mode of lending discrimination has shifted from human to algorithmic bias.

Commentary

With the recent turnover in leadership at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, we may be standing at the precipice of great change in the government’s role in supporting the mortgage market through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.